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Abstract

The product designed by GreenGlove is a heated glove that operates using flexible solar
panels. While conventional heated gloves currently on the market rely on battery power
to operate, GreenGlove harvests 100 percent of its energy using solar power. Through
this, GreenGlove is able to provide a more sustainable alternative to current heated
gloves. The use of solar panels eliminates the need for continuous replacement,
recharging, and disposal of batteries. This ultimately leads to less waste being dumped in
landfills and less inconveniences for the customer. Moreover, the solar panels are
extremely lightweight and flexible, thus virtually eliminating any concern of additional
weight being added or loss of mobility. This is a key benefit of the gloves, since
GreenGlove is then able to eradicate the need for any type of heavy and bulky power
storage device. One drawback of this form of power generation is that the power that can
be generated is less than the amount battery packs are capable of generating. Therefore,
the focus of GreenGlove is to maintain comfortable temperatures in the glove, rather than
generate large quantities of heat at high temperatures. By ensuring a comfortable
temperature is maintained inside the glove, this product is ideal for frostbite prevention,
as well as people with Raynaud’s Disease, which is a condition in which the blood flow
to the fingertips is significantly reduced during cold weather.
The primary method used to maintain heat is through the addition of a material with
exceptionally high insulating properties. Cryogel Aerogel, which when compared to
other types of insulation, is significantly more lightweight and has much higher insulating
properties. To ensure the heat loss in each finger is minimized, the glove was designed
with emphasis on insulating the fingers with large amounts of Aerogel. Within the
Aerogel is a weather resistant barrier, implemented to both eliminate any moisture to the
hand, as well as block any dust generated by the Aerogel from reaching the hand. Inside
the weather barrier, one polyimide heaters is located on the top of each finger on the
surface of a cotton inner glove. These heaters are also encircled by the Aerogel, thus
ensuring a minimal amount of heat is lost.
The ideal power that can be generated by the solar panel design is 0.96 W. Based on a
heat transfer analysis of the glove, this amount meets the requirement of maintaining an
80 degree Fahrenheit temperature within the glove. During prototype testing, the
maximum power attained was 0.44 W. With this amount of power generation, the
temperature inside each finger was raised approximately 7 degrees F. These results were
deemed acceptable which verified the effectiveness of the glove’s primary purpose.
A market study was also conducted to identify the potential need for the heated glove,
and to which demographics the product should be advertised to. Because of the
utilization of solar panels as the primary power source, it was determined that increased
reflectivity of sunlight due to snow would make the heated glove ideal for use in winter
sports such as skiing and snowboarding. Additionally, the heated glove may be used in
medical applications as a treatment for Raynaud’s Disease and as a better method to
combatting the onset of frostbite. A competitive analysis was also performed to compare
the solar powered heated glove’s design against products already on the market. The size
of the heated glove market is relatively small, with a few companies such as Gerbing
Heated Clothing dominating the market. Despite variances in the types of heaters used in
these gloves, almost all gloves currently on the market require battery packs, whether
rechargeable or replaceable. It is the elimination of these bulky, expensive battery packs
that motivates the sustainable, renewable energy aspect of the solar powered heated
glove. GreenGlove hopes to expand its market by advertising the solar powered heated
glove as a passive device whose novel, passive, low maintenance, sustainable, and
environmentally friendly design will justify its relatively high initial cost compared to
other heated glove on the market.